Hull extractor



dan. 17, 1928;

A. L.. SMITH i HULL EXTRACTOR Filed oct. 15. 192e 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gawcnrc't ALGER/70N LSMITH.

Jan. 17, 1928. 1,656,398

A. L. SMITH HULL ExTRAcToR Filed Oot. 15. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gu f C l. v

ALGER/von L. s

Bil

Patented Jan. 17, 192.8.`

UNITED STAT-ias ALGERNON L. SMITH, OF BIaMrNGHAM, ALABAMA.

EXTRACTOR.

Application led October This invention has general reference to apparatus adapted for the mechanical removal of `foreign matter yfrom `fibrous materials, but relates `more particularly to `apparatus of the said general characterpwhich is especially suitable for use in extracting thehulls, trash and dirt that commonly are present in cotton before it is ginned.

A primary object oi the present inventionis to produce a hull extractor in which a plurality oi rotatable saw cylinders or the like, each having associated witlr it a rotatable picker roller, and a dofiing means, are arranged at successivelylower levels in a suitable casing, provision being made for the passaoe of mixed cotton and hulls.

knocked back by` afpicker rollerbfrom an upper to the next loweil one ofsuch saw cylinders, andV the preferable arrangements and directions `of rotation of the" saw cylinders and their picker yrollersbeing such that the hulls andsuch` cotton as may adhere thereto asextracted [from the seed cotton passing to the doiiingI means, are'contined to thepath 'of travel which keeps them separated ;trom the untreated cotton above each saw cylinder. Vliere the sawcylinders are arranged in vertical alignment or` ata steep angle, my invention contemplates the provision ot' guide `means such as l,hull boards being interposed in the passageway for the mixed cotton and hulls, and being so arranged as successively` to presentthe hulls with any accompanying cotton tothe saws until the hulls are `cleaned to thev desired extent.

A further object is so to arrange the saw cylii'iders, and the picker rollers, and such lmllboards or guide means are heeded to co-act with the reslgiectivefones thereof, that all ofthe saw cylinders may be rotatedy in the same direction to carry the mixed cotton and hulls `downwardly by' gravity or away from the approaching massof'cotton to be treateih'and the seed cotton dotted ronithe saws bythe dofling brushes or equivalent means may bedelivered from all otthem in substantially the" same direction, so as to pass preferably thifough a'coinmon Ipassageway to an outlet separate fand apartf'from the outlet for the hulls.

And a stillfurther object is to mount each of the sawcylinders, and the pickenroller, clotting brush and hull "board that co-act therewith, ina separable unit of the casing, so thattlie number -o'l' de-hulling treatment-s 15', 132e. serial No. 141,741/

to which the cottonis to be subjected may be increased or decreased, according to `the character' and grade of `the cotton to 'be treated,byvarying the number of such Yunits comprised in 'the hullv extractor.`

The means by whichfthe foregoing and other objectsVa-re accomplished by14 my `invent-ion,{and the manner of their accomplishment, readily will be understood from the" following description on reference tothe accompanying drawings, which depictpre- `ferred embodiment of the"`invention, and in which:- Y' if '5* l Fig.l 1 is a transversesectional view of my improved hull extractor, witlr the casing shown somewhat diagrammatically, `while `the operating parts, all 'of whichper se are of types that are well-known to those skilled in this art, and illustrated conventionally.

Fig2is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing niod'iticd form of hull-extractor casing, and a"modified arrangement'r'it the operating parts therein.' Y

AS1 shown in the drawlnfrs, in which corresponding parts are identi ed by like reference 'characters in the different views, and

referring first to Fig. `1., the `casingoffthe hull extractor, which sliown illustratively as 'being of wooden construction throughout, comprises a rear side wall 5; a `front side wall 6,1having a rearwardly-inclined upper extension 7; `a top` 8, having a suitable *inlet opening' 9- therein, through which the mixed 1syeed-"cottonand hulls may be delivered in `any preferred manner to the hull extractor; and en'd walls, one ofwhich isindicated by 10. Preferably, the casing ofthehnll extractor'is made up of a plurality'of separable units, which for convenience of description are indicated by tliereference characters A, B,"and C, saidnnits being suitably secured together in such la way that they Y readily may assembled or knocked down, the number of such units employed at any time readily may be varied, and access to the interior ofthe casing, as for purposes of repairs or replacements,may bel facilitated. Suitably supported in the inlet 9 are apair of 3o-acting feed-rollers 11,\which prefer'- ably are Huted so as to beadapted for use in regulating the irate at which the mixed cotton and hulls are fed into the hull extractor. `Spaced' a suitablev dist-ance law-ay 'from the front-side wall and preferablysubstantially 110 Vparallel therewith, is a. dust-screen12,hav ing atits lowerend a screwlconveyor 13l for .two of the sets of operating the removal from the casing of such dirt and dust as pass through the screen. An opening is provided at 14 for the discharge of the hulled cotton from the huller casing, and a receptable 15, having a screw-conveyor 16 therein, is provided ior the hulls and coarse particles of other foreign matter that drop to the bottom of the huller casing.

For the purpose of illustrating the operation of my improved hull extractor, I have shown the casing in Fig. 1 as being made up of three separable units, contaning exactly similar sets of operating parts, the first or initial setcomprising a saw cylinder formed of a series of spaced saws or other equivalent members, such as are indicated by 17; a

stripper roller 18, having suitable fingers or spikes 19 projecting from the outer cylindr-cal surface thereof; a deflector plate 20; a dotling brush 21, having bristles 22 pro- 'ecting from its outer surface; and a hull oard 23, the position of which is adjustable longitudinallyT by means of a rack 2-1 and its co-operating pinion 25,' which is secured upon a shaft 26 that is rotatable through the medium of a hand-crank 27. The unit which acts on the hulls after treatment by the tirstor initial set comprises similar parts correspondingly numbered except that thenumerals bear the suffix al and the final unit that acts on the hulls comprises similarly numbered parts except the numerals bear the sutlix b. However, it is to be understood that the number of such vcasing units, and hencethe number of such sets of operating parts, is in no wise fixed, but may vary widely under different working conditions, which will be particularly affected by the nature of the cotton to be hulled, as to whether or not it is Vholly or immature, or has been carelessly gathered and contains many hulls and a great deal of trash. The invention contemplates the use of at least parts, and the number thereof to be employed always preterably will be sufficient to insure the separation of substantially all ot the cotton 'trom the hulls and other foreign matter.

Above the uppermost saw cylinder 17 is a guide-board 28, whch co-operates with the uppermost hull board 23 in directing the mixed cotton and hulls downward toward therear peripheral surface of said saw cylinder, and at the bottom of the huller casing a guide-board or partition member 29 maintains the separation of the hulls from the hulled cotton as they are about to pass into the receptacle 15 and the discharge opening 14, respectively.

In the modified form of huller casing shown in Fig. 2, and the modiiied arrange ment of the operating parts as shown in said figure, the front side wallof the casing and the dust screen 12 are sufficiently inclined so that the cotton dotted from the saw cylinders will roll or slide down said screen, and dust and dirt will therefore be more effectively and efficiently removed from the cotton. Also, the amount of head-room required for the casing is reduced, and it is otherwise rendered more compact, by arranging the saw cylinders, and the members that co-act therewith, in conformity with the inclination of the front and rear side walls of the casing and of the dust-screen, and by suitably regulating the angle of such inclination the passage of the mixed cotton and hulls by gravity from an upper saw cylinder to position i'or engagement bv the next lower' one takes place with little or no guiding assistance from hull boards or the like.

From the foregoing description, the operation of my improved hull extractor readily will be understood. The mixed cotton and hulls are introduced in any suitable manner into the opening 9, and through rotation o'i' the tinted rollers 11 in the respective directions indicated by the arrows on said rollers, said material is fed downward into the space defined by thc detiector 28 and the hull board 23, and thus into engagement with the saw cylinder 17. The position of said hull board is regulated by means of its hand-crank 27 and the rack and pinion operated thereby, so as to regulate suitablyV the opening bctween the lower end of said hull board and the periphery of the saw cylinder. Both the saw cylinder 17 and the stripper roller 18 are rotated in the same direction, which in the views shown in the drawings is counter-clockwise, as indicated by arrows, and the cotton that is separated from the hulls is moved by the saws toward the front of the huller'iframe and is` thrown against the dirt screen 12 as the clotting brush 21 (rotating at comparatively high speed in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon) assists in freeing the cotton from the saws, the dust and dirt in the cotton passing through the dust screen 12 and dropping down into -a trough of the screwconveyor' 1 3, and the hulied cotton dropping into the opening `at 1d. Meanwhile, the hulls, carrying with them such cotton as is not extracted by thel tirs-t step in the operation of the huller, are through toward the rear side of the huller frame, and pass downward by gravity to the slide 23 (the position of which will have been suitably regulated initially) and to thc saw cylinder' 17l andV its co-acting stripper roller 18u. lVhen they have passed the lowermost one of the sets of operatingl parts, the number ot which sets, as stated hereinbefore, may be varied at will, the hulls drop into the recep` tacle 15, from which they are removed by the screw-conveyor 16. The purpose ot the deflecting plates 20, 20a, 201 is to insure that none of the cotton will drop from the saw the tenaces brushes 21 21, 2lb and'likewise to guard against the dropping of any of thehullsinto said space. The portionot' said plate ywhich co-acts with the saw cylinder maybe dispensed with if desired, in cases Ywhere the cotton shows no tendency to drop from the j `and a rotatable stripper roller associated `with each saw cylinder and arranged respec- SVWS.

In referring in this speciiication,"and in the appended claims, to a stripper roller al doiiingbrush, and a hullboard, it is to be understood that said terms are intendedto be interpreted in their broadest sense, as covering, respectively, any means adapted to perform the functions of stripping or otherwise separating hulls and other like foreign matter lfrom cotton or other` iibrous material; of doiiing or otherwise diseiigaging such` iibrous material from saw cylindersor other similar-devices; and of direc-ting fibrous material towardl and into engagement with such saws or the like, for the purpose of subjecting such material to a. separating or cleaning operation.

l Various inodiiications of minor details of the improvements disclosed herein doubtless readily will suggest themselves to those skilled in this art, but such modifications tall within the scope of my inventive rights, and my vinvention therefore is not to be construed as being limited to any details not specifically set. out in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as 4new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is y y l. In a cotton huller having an inlet opening, a saw cylinder arranged to draw the mixed seed cotton and hulls inwardly from said opening, a second saw cylinder having the same direction of rotation 'as the first mentioned saw cylinder, a, stripperroller acting on the seed cotton engaged by the li'rst .mentioned cylinder toV deflect hulls therefromy and from Contact with the incoming seed cotton to the second saw cylinder, a, stripper roller associated withthe second. saw cylinder, and means to dol' the` dehulled seed cotton from both saw cylinders and lieep it separate from the hulls.

2. ln a cotton huller having an inlet opening, a saw cylinder arranged to draw the mixed seed cotton and hullsinwardly from said opening, a stripper roller acting on the inwardly-moving. side of thesaw and disposed to dei'lect the hulls away from the inwardly-traveling seed cotton; means to doit' the seed cotton from said saw cylinder and to divert it away from the hulls; a second saw cylinder disposedto receive the hulls andV cotton stripped from the first mentioned saw cylinder and having the saine direct-ion ot rotation as said latter cylinder;

means tocause the hulls deiiectedffrom the first mentioned saw cylinder by its stripper cylinders into the space between the stripper i 'rollers 18, 18a, 181 and their respective doiiing plurality of saw cylinders rotatable in the `saine direction and disposed to successively act upon the cotton and hulls `to be treated;

tively to knock oil the hulls in the direction of the travel of the hulls through the machine and in adirection away from the seed cotton and hulls approaching their respective saw cylinders, the stripper rollers being `disposed on thc down-going side ot their respective saw cylinders remote :t'roin the approach ofI the seed cotton-and hulls to be treated andbeingiotated iii a direction to knockoti the hullstoward the next siicceeding saw cylinder and away from the approaching cotton and hulls to be treated.

a. -A machine for hulling seed cotton, comprising a casing having rotatably mounted therein a series of saw cylinders arranged at successively lower levels and having a coininon direction of rotation; a stripper roller for each saw cylinderdisposed on its downgoing side and arranged in a position to divert the hulls tripped by it from its respective cylinder away from the cotton and hulls approaching its said respective saw cylinder Jfor treatment, the cylinders and picker rollers being arranged for successively presenting the hulls to successive saw cylinders until they are cleaned; and means to doii the saw cylinders. f 5. A machine for hulling seed cotton, coniprising a casing having rotatably mounted therein a series of saw cylinders arranged at successively lower levels; a stripper roller for each saw cylinder, disposed on its downgoing side and arranged in a position to knock the hulls away from the cotton approaching its respective saw cylinder for treatment, thereby successively presenting the hulls to successive saw cylinders until they are cleaned; means to doit the saw cylinders, said doffing means being arranged to` keep the seed cotton sepa ated from the hulls; and separate outlets for the seed cotton and hulls. f

6. A machine for hulling seed cotton, coniprising a casing having rotatably mounted therein a series of saw cylinders arranged at `successively lower levels and having a conirespective saw cylinder for treatment, thereby successively presenting only the hulls and cotton adhering thereto to successive saw titl cylinders, said dorhng means being arranged to keep the seed cotton separated from the hulls; and separate outlets for the seed cotton and hulls, the saw cylinders being arw ranged for a gravity flow through the casing, the hulls under treatment falling on one side of a plane through the axes or the several saw cylinders, and the cleaned seed cotton falling on the other side of said plane.

7. In a machine for hulling seed cotton, a series of saw cylinders having a common direction or' rotation and arranged at successively lower levels; an element acting as a hull-board to direct hulls and cotton to each saw cylinder; means disposed below each hull-board and which co-act with its respec-` tive saw cylinder to divert in the same direction hulls carried by the saw past the adjacent preceding hull-board; and means to doff the cleaned Seed cotton from the saw cylinders.

mennen direction of rotation as the first-mentioned i saw cylinder; a hull-hoard adapted to direct the hulls .knocked from the upper saw cylinder toward the lower saw cylinder; and a stripper roller and dolling means co-acting with said lower saw cylinder.

In testimony Whereoi` I my signa-` ture. v

ALGERNON L. sMrrH. 

